fritzed

Fritzed is the word of choice in my family to describe what it's like when life and responsibilities get overwhelming. This past weekend I have heard it a lot.

Dictionary.com says that "fritz" is of obscure origin — possibly coming from the theater. Drama. That sounds about right. Maybe the stage show on that particular day when the phrase was coined headlined an actor named Fritz. He had too many lines to memorize, too many directives being thrown at him by too many people, too many things going on at home, too many critics scrutinizing his every move, . . . and then it happened. He collapsed on the stage. The audience gasped. The corners of the critics mouths curled up fiendishly.

On the front page of the paper the next day a journalist coined the phrase "fritzed out."

Sounds about right. Well, that's my take on it since the origin of the word is "obscure." (Maybe I will post that in wikipedia. After I get my other things done.)

When work and life get dramatic and you feel like you are fritzing out, what do you do?

I mean apart from letting someone be the recipient of some choice words. Or heading out to your favorite watering hole. How do you un-fritz?

1. Step back. It is part of my daily discipline to step back. This is my perspective time of the day when I warm up my motor, assess the lay of the land, and make sure I'm ready for whatever snowballs are going to be hurled at me. But when the unexpected assault begins, I have to mentally make the choice to "step back" and get perspective before I do something that I will regret.
2. (Re)assess. Here's one image of what it means to reassess: I am standing in the middle of my workroom facing all my tools and jars of nails and bottles of glue. Envisioning what I am trying to build, I gather together the tools I need to make it happen. Do I need to call on the glue of my people skills? Is it time to take out the hammer of persuasion? What would happen if I used the screwdriver? One huge help in assessing is being able to implement an objective ear to help me see things clearly before proceeding.
3. (Re)engage. As much as I would like to retreat to an island in the Bahamas for a looooonnnnngggg time, I do have to engage with the matters at hand. The good news is that having stepped back and reassessed the situation, I can engage from a position of strength and control. 

I don't know if Fritz had the opportunity to step back, reassess and re-engage during an intermission or scene change. But maybe if he had, "fritzed out" might have an entirely different meaning.